Things too precious to lose
by Dark Nothing
Summary: Unable to take the villagers abuse any longer Naruto has left Konoha when he was thirteen. What happens if Sasuke Uchiha finds him while looking for his brother and attempts to capture his former best friend who apparantly has joined the Akatsuki but ends up getting captured by the jinchuuriki instead? Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Property of Masashi Kishimoto since…ever.

**Warnings: **Kinda depressing in the first few chapters, but it'll get better.

**Beta'd by: **Noleewut. Thanks Dear!

I should be updating "Convincing Him" but instead I start a new story… Yeah. That's something that was waiting to happen, but don't worry, I'm working on the new chapter.

Enjoy!

-.-.-.-

"To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing "- Unknown

-.-.-.-

People fear what they don't understand. Most of the time, the fear grows into abhorrence which in turn grows into hatred. The hatred for what they don't know, the hatred for what they can't comprehend, the hatred for what they are afraid of is unfounded, unwarranted, limitless and, most of all, illogical. Sometimes, people don't even care what they cause by hating something they fear without thinking. Without setting themselves any boundaries, without restraining. They don't realize what an enormous effect being shunned and hated by an entire village could cause in a child. A child with blue eyes, blond hair, tanned skin and three sharp, whisker-like scars on each cheek which doesn't have parents, to be exact.

Naruto Uzumaki didn't know why he didn't have parents. He didn't know why he didn't have any friends. He also didn't know why the grown-ups always stared at him with disgust and hatred and anger in their burning, contemptuous, pejorative eyes while they smashed his famine-suffering little body down into the cold hard ground, their fists and nails and words hurting his body, mind and soul. But though their strong blows and kicks at his vulnerable, helplessly weak body and their furious scratching and digging into his tender, soft skin hurt him physically so much that he often fainted from the pure agony of it all and occasionally from the blood loss, that was by far not what hurt him the most. What hurt him the most was what they would say to him.

They would call him a cruel and evil monster, a ruthless, worthless creature, a malignant and non-rueful anomaly while fists like batons tormented him. But whereas the cuts, scratches, bruises, stains and even broken bones healed within days, the words kept hunting him, branded themselves into his mind and corrupted his soul, undermined his innocence. While the injuries of the flesh healed, the wounds of the heart only got deeper as the time passed.

The blonde kept laughing and smiling as he heard the insults, the mean whispers behind his back, the daring yet bold looks they sent the "obnoxious loser". The blond boy heard, the blond boy saw. But he didn't understand. No one told him anything, no one explained him why he was so excluded and offside. And as time passed, the tan, blue-eyed boy with the sunshiny hair started to lock his feelings away, to keep his heart save by building hard walls of sadness, anger, distrust, hatred and overall, resignation.

At night, he often wondered what it would be like. In the future. He knew what he wanted to be; he wanted to become a shinobi. He didn't want to become a shinobi to get attention or respect, oh no. A ninja was a being that operated and protected from within the shadows, that kept their identity a secret and their past untouched. A ninja was somebody who could protect himself and make money with his skills, who wasn't bound to a shop or restaurant. There would always be ninja. Because when people wanted something, they usually did everything in their might to get it. Why not hire a shinobi? As long as someone else dirtied their hands.

He didn't like thinking about his past. For him, his past was what happened a few minutes ago, the last day with effort already buried deep inside his memory, tormenting him even without being actively thought about. He lived in the present, at least he tried his best to do so. Because if he were to consciously remember any day before the current one, he'd lose his ability to smile and grin and goof around to mask his suffering. He just felt so alone. He looked at villagers almost every day of his life, saw them play with their family and friends, sharing tender touches and loving gestures. But as soon as they saw him, their warm and gentle smiles turned into scowls, angry glowers, terrifying snarls. And even the little children, who knew nothing but merely mimicked their parents actions, began to loathe him with vengeance. They didn't know why they did it, nor did they care. If their parents told them it was right, who were they to argue?

They felt a sick satisfaction from seeing him cry, his tears streaming down his scarred cheeks as they saw him sitting all alone, shunned by everyone, only touched when he was tortured and beaten. When he cried during his nearly daily humiliation, the salty moisture of the droplets often mixed with the revolting wetness of his banes spittle on his face or the dirt of the ground and almost every time with the blood that stained his features. Over the time, he had stopped crying, seeing that it only served to aid his humiliation. If they were cruel enough to throw them out of their groceries when he was in need for food and had money to spent, if they were cruel enough to make him pay more than he could afford – should they sell him something – for already rotten and bad food, if they were cruel enough to break into his already dilapidated apartment and destroy it even more, why would they care if he cried and wailed and screamed? They didn't stop when he begged, they wouldn't stop when he cried.

But there was one thing he couldn't forget. No matter how much he tried, it pursued him. There had been a boy. A boy with black hair, pale skin and black eyes. Those eyes were like black abysses, they drove him in. Something about this boy told him he was alone and lonely too. As he'd looked into those coal eyes, he'd seen anger, grief, an overall sadness. Those eyes looked so much like his own. But unlike him, this boy had a spark inside of him; a dream, perhaps? It drove him. The black eyed boy had looked at him, and Naruto hadn't been able to help himself. He had smiled at him, not the smiles he normally threw around. Not the smiles where everyone could see his teeth shining as his face screwed up. His face and heart hadn't hurt from smiling a false smile. He'd smiled, and the other boy had smiled back the same way, without the mask Naruto had noticed he always wore. It haunted him since then. Who was he? The boy who was as empty and cold as him and yet full of life.

But in the thunderbolts of facing the villagers on his hated birthday the boy disappeared from his thoughts. The mood of the citizens seemed fouler than usual around him, their attacks became more painful and the injuries they inflicted became deeper and more troublesome to heal. He had passed out from pain and blood loss and as he had awoken, they still weren't finished with him. He had felt his rips crack, had felt the blood spurting out of his broken nose, had felt his lips split. His entire body hurt like hell. As they continued to harm him, they had railed at him, called him a demon, a murderer. They'd screamed that he had no right to life, being the killer they saw in him. Thankfully after a while he had passed out again.

He hated them.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Soo…yeah. The next chapter should be up in a week, and for those who are waiting for the seventh chapter of Convincing him, I'll update it on Friday.

Leave a review!

~Dark


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **Neither Naruto nor any of its characters do belong to me.

**Warnings: **Um, none yet. They more than likely will appear in the later chapters, though.

**Thanks to the reviewers!**

**Beta'd by: **Noleewut. Thx, sweetie!

Enjoy!

-.-.-.-

"The truth is you don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed." – Eminem

-.-.-.-

The scent of freshly cooked tomato rice and roasted duck wafted through the big house, filling it with pretence life. On the table sat one plate, one set of chopsticks, one glass of water and one bowl of salad, only one chair was being sat on. Not a sound interrupted the heavy silence that lay over the building, not even the wind dared to startle the quiet that engulfed the entire dark compound, the whole complex captured by the calmness of death, missing the life of its former residents, the busyness of long gone days still echoing through empty streets and abandoned houses. Desiccated leaves were scattered all over the main street of the lifeless district, the dirt and the dust of years offering a sad picture to any soul who passed by. The smell of rotting bodies still lingered all over the place, the corpses may be gone but their presence remained, the screams of the killed ones still hollered through every backstreet, the blood still tainted the walls of expensive houses and the floors of discarded homes. White lines still outlined long buried bodies, remembrances for others to always be guarded, to never feel save, to always look twice over their shoulders and to carefully chose one's friends. To never trust in human nature, no matter how long known.

The children of the village called it the 'Ghost-town', the home of raging souls, unable to find peace in the oblivion of death due to the way they died. They whispered among themselves that one of the ghosts had taken possession of the body of one of the murdered people and strolled through the entire village and the world, searching for the man that had sealed the fate of the mighty clan with cruelty and a katana.

But this man was not a ghost from a long forgotten glory time. This man was a shinobi, full of vindictiveness towards the slayer of his family, a man trained in the arts of assassination, a man that had spent his whole life in preparation for a single fight that would either end his life or the life of the man that had taken so many without second thought.

The moon glowed bright over the deadly silent compound, auguring an eventful future.

-.-.-

He was leaping through the woods as if on fire, not caring about the branches that slapped sharply into his face or the leaves that due to his speed cut his clothes, never slowing down, not even as he passed through Konoha's main gate, only vaguely perceptible as a hurricane of shadow and inflaming wind, startling a few shinobi and villagers as he passed by faster than any other ninja that had just returned from a mission, only the sizzling sounds resulting out of his speed giving him away to the perceptive ears of his fellows.

Dark hair chucked into a pale face as narrowed black eyes scanned the distance that still lay before him, brows knotted in concentration and confusion as their owner once again asked himself why the heck he spurred himself to this suicidal speed.

Cold charcoal eyes bleeding into red, a nightmarish landscape covered in the dead and lifeless bodies of the members of his family, beloved faces warped into one last expression of anguish and fear, besmirched by blood and tears, screams that tore his heart and over it all, the image of his brother, telling him over and over again, in this disinterested cool voice that made his skin crawl in dread and anger, how weak and pathetic he was.

Sasuke swallowed and shook his head once, clearing his mind from the incubus he relived every night in his sleep, unwillingly.

He arrived in front of the Hokage tower, making his way inside and up to his superior quietly, coming to a stop upon reaching his destination. Sasuke stepped forward and knocked loudly, who knew if Tsunade-sama was drunk and sleeping on the desk again.

The Uchiha quelled the upcoming memories of the one and only time he had lost his patience and slammed that door open, waking the hungover Hokage in the process. The back of his head still hurt in ghost-pain as the remembrance of the meeting between the well-endowed woman's fist and itself made a rather violent and unneeded comeback.

"Enter" Opening the door carefully and prepared for any and all sneak-attacks that possibly could be launched on him, he entered the office swiftly. Just in case the Hokage was in a foul mood or otherwise testy he closed the door softly behind him, careful not to accelerate the process of sobering up she most likely was in. It clicked shut with a soft sound, perfectly hearable in the silent room.

Amber eyes pierced him, goring his very soul in an – doomed to failure from the very start – attempt to see past his relaxed composure and bored expression, but finding it increasingly difficult to do so. The Jounin simply was too used to pretend to be what he wasn't for her to presume what was going through the pale boy's head.

"Okay, I'll make this short and simple. Your brother has been seen not far away from Sunagakure and the Kazekage has asked us to lend him a helping hand in killing him. He and his partner have tried to kidnap the late Kazekage's son for the Akatsuki."

_He tried to kidnap Gaara? _He could remember the jinchuuriki, clear as day. He could still remember the feeling of helplessness that had taken him hostage when even his Sharingan had proven to be useless against all that sand that followed Gaara's every whim, attacking Sasuke, and very nearly crushing Sakura to a mass of blood and squashed flesh.

Then it dawned on him.

_So you've finally emerged from oblivion, Itachi, _Sasuke thought, his old hatred for the man that had destroyed his life all those years ago flaring up again with viciousness. "Understood, Hokage-sama." He hated the crazed redhead but if ensuring his safety meant that he would get a chance to hunt Itachi down he would swallow this particular hate gladly.

"I was not finished yet, Uchiha." The look in her eyes changed from guarded to earnest and compassionate. "You may want to sit down."

He shook his head, who did she think she was talking to? Even though if he were to be honest with himself the woman's offer made him a bit uneasy. Tsunade Senju wasn't one to treat someone like a doll, she hadn't done so when she had met him for the first time nor had she showed that much consideration at the departure of - yeah, she wasn't soft-hearted.

The corner of the Hokage's lip lifted slightly, the ghost of a smile making a cursory manifestation on her lightly painted lips.

"Fine", she sighed. "But don't tell me I didn't warn you later, understood?" Sasuke nodded.

"The partner I was talking about is Naruto Uzumaki" For a moment, all sound vanished from Sasuke's world as his mind replayed countless scenes and pictures involving the aforementioned blue-eyed blonde, crying, laughing, looking lost and small amidst mist and ice shards, covered in blood and sweat.

_~Flashback~_

_Hard, cold stone was under him, _the bridge, _his pain-clouded mind supplied. _

"_I know that I'm a monster" The words reached him through a haze, his eyes weren't able to see yet, his field of vision consisting of blinding sparks and red-shot dots. He didn't recognize this voice, it was deep and raspy, a dark baritone. He did not know anyone who sounded like that. "But he is not. If you want to kill, kill me. I don't have any purpose, any dream." _

"_You want to protect him, don't you?" Another, light and unclouded voice asked. A girl? No, he didn't fight a girl…but a boy with a mask…_

"_He has something worth living for." A mirthless chuckle. "But I don't." _

_A gasp. The wet sound of flesh being torn apart, blood shattering across the floor, some of it landed on his face. _

"_Goodbye" The raspy voice was all he heard before darkness enclosed him again._

_~Flashback end~_

Back then, he hadn't known. But he knew now.

In an emotionless voice that didn't betray his feelings concerning the whole affair he asked, "When will I get going?"

Tsunade smiled for real this time and held out a scroll which he took. "Tomorrow. You may assemble your own team, this is an S-class mission."

-.-.-

The team was carefully selected, each member had his very own purpose to fulfil to guarantee maximum success. Kiba Inuzuka, the best tracker they had, Sakura Haruno as a medical ninja and Neji Hyuuga, since a Byakugan always was useful and the brunette very skilled in hand-to-hand combat. And since Naruto had had at least some kind of bond to Sakura before abandoning Konoha, there was also an emotional pressure ensured. Yes, he had to be very careful and in order to capture a jinchuuriki and an S-rank criminal he also had to take the skills of his enemies into consideration very profoundly so that his team even stood a chance.

He had not chosen Kiba or Sakura for their combat abilities. They may be strong, but Sakura's punches wouldn't work on neither Itachi nor Naruto. She was a good genjutsu user, but nowhere on par with the elder Uchiha, and since they basically knew jack shit about the techniques Naruto had learned in his absence, she mostly was on the team because of her healing abilities. The Inuzuka also would mainly come with them to track the two traitors down, not to fight at all.

The only ones who realistically stood half a chance were Sasuke and Neji, one a Sharingan and the other a Byakugan user, both deemed prodigies of their clans. Sasuke most likely would take on Itachi, while Neji would take care of Naruto and if everything went as Sasuke had planned it, Itachi Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki would not be a threat to the world any longer as soon as they were done with them.

He impatiently waited at Konoha's main gate in full shinobi gear, glaring at anything and anyone that dared to cross his way, trying to will his comrades to appear by some miracle. Quite honestly, he could understand perfectly fine why none of them was there yet. The scheduled meeting would not take place for another twenty minutes, and since Inuzuka always liked to be late they wouldn't take off for at least one hour.

Che, as if that would make any difference. If Kiba thought he could slack off like this, than he was in for a surprise – what they lost on time now they would make up for while travelling.

-.-.-

One hour later – twenty minutes earlier than he had predicted – the four of them barged through the woods surrounding Konoha, heading south-west towards the general direction of Sunagakure. They wouldn't enter the village though, that would take too much time – the Kazekage would sent an Anbu-squad to lead them to the place where the Shinobi of Suna had lost track of the two Akatsuki members and let them take over from there.

The mood was gloomy, as gloomy as it could get without talking at all. Sasuke knew that the fact that they were assigned to bring Naruto down upset Sakura a great deal – no matter how hard she had always hit him when they were children, she had taken a liking in the blonde – and even unsettled the always calm and collected Neji. The only one that didn't seem perturbed at all was the Inuzuka.

"Oi, Sasuke! You never told us who we are chasing after!" Of course, the mutt couldn't just read the instruction scroll Sasuke had given him, that would be too simple. Sasuke stayed silent, trying to figure out the best way of telling Kiba about Itachi without mentioning Naruto. There may be no way of sugar-coating the sad truth that Naruto had become a renegade but that didn't mean that he had to be a complete asshole and just smack the undeniable verity in his tattooed face.

"If you had read the scroll you would know" Of course, he could just let Neji do it! Why should he dirty his own hands if he had an annoyed Hyuuga at his leisure?

"Do you have to be such an asshole, Neji?!" Kiba hollered. "I wasn't talking to you!" Neji didn't respond, he just looked at Sasuke with those pale and unfathomable eyes of his. It felt as if he was trying to bore a hole through Sasuke's head with his look alone, paranoid as it sounded.

"Fine, if you two don't answer me, I'm sure Sakura-"

"Itachi" Sasuke interrupted him. As the leader of the team it was his responsibility to make sure every member of his squad knew what they were signed up for. Of course one could argue it was Kiba's own fault if he didn't pay attention to his instructions but this mission frankly mattered too much for Sasuke than that he would risk its success only to make a point to the Inuzuka.

Kiba's mouth snapped shut at once. He may not be particularly fond of the so-called prodigy but he knew when to stop poking. Especially when he was poking into a still open, bleeding wound. He had only flown over the paper spending most of his attention to what money the mission would bring him and what rank it was – he still needed some S-rank missions to become part of the Anbu so this was the main reason he had taken it on. His mother had always told him to get his head out of the gutter and learn how to cherish his life – meaning he should be careful which missions he took and to always calculate the risk of dying. But hey, you only live once, right?

Neji shook his head. Why Sasuke had to be all secretive about the blond ex-Genin of Konoha he didn't know but he knew that if he didn't tell Kiba sooner or later the whole thing would blow up in Sasuke's pretty face. But before he could add anything to Sasuke's information, Sakura beat him into it.

"And Naruto, the blond burden nobody wanted to be involved with" Sakura sniffed haughtily, "for obvious reasons" Because honestly, what was the point in lying? Not one person had missed Naruto, he had only always caused trouble and he hadn't been a talented Shinobi anyways. She didn't see him as a threat, much less a danger to anyone, he was too stupid to think up a plan and too clumsy to execute one when given to him. Why Tsunade-sama wanted the annoying airhead back was beyond her, just as it was why Sasuke had tried to get the obnoxious baka back in their lives since no one even cared about him to start with.

Kiba's huff of revulsion in apparent approval of Sasuke's fangirl wasn't lost to neither Neji nor Sasuke.

While Neji just shrugged it off, not caring about his teammate's opinion, Sasuke didn't say anything to contradict her he just continued to leap through the woods pretending he hadn't heard anything at all. He didn't want to get into an argument now, he needed his team concentrated and depending on and trusting each other. Discord just wouldn't do on a mission as important as this one was, no matter how much he wanted to stop and lecture Sakura to the ground about vessel of glutinousness and fortitude that was Naruto Uzumaki…or rather had been. He wouldn't even pretend to know something regarding the jinchuuriki's character after he hadn't seen him in five years. A lot could change in time especially when so much passed by in the world of Shinobi.

With his face set in a determined expression, he moved even faster, forcing his team to speed up to keep up with him.

-.-.-

They had travelled for three days with top speed and no interruptions (meaning enemy ninja trying to kill them) and were currently about twenty minutes away from the border of Hi no Kuni and that surprises even the Uchiha. The dense forest that was prominent throughout the land of fire had slowly but surely changed into a barren desert landscape, the air had become dryer and more heated. The sand dug with raw claws on their skin and the unaccustomed air they breathed was scratching up their nostrils.

Sasuke came to an abrupt halt as he recognized the two Shinobi that were close to clashing with them. They hadn't made a move to disguise themselves so Sasuke assumed that they had been sent by the Kazekage to lead them to their final place of operation.

"Uchiha" Temari's eyes were the same chilling blue they had been back then and Kankuro's body language clearly gave away that he definitely didn't want to stand around like that, clear visible for all sorts of attackers.

"Temari, Kankuro" Sasuke answered emotionless. "Lead the way" They both nodded their compliance and took off. Sasuke and his team followed as Sasuke made sure to be the closest to the blond Kunoichi in order to talk to Temari. Her stance told him that she was the leader of the team when Gaara wasn't around so she was the one that would give him the information.

She spared him a glance and without his request started talking. "They came in the middle of the night. One of them sneaked into the jinchuuriki's room but Gaara wasn't there since it was a full moon and he always is on the rooftop in such nights, so the intruder waited. When the vessel came back, he attacked him-"

"Why didn't he just knock Gaara out?" Sasuke interrupted.

"They apparently know that the Ichibi is able to take a hold of its jinchuuriki's body once they are unconscious or asleep. The sounds of their fight alarmed other ninja and they tried to interfere, but all of them got killed. We lost twelve very capable shinobi in that battle, Uchiha. But they didn't success in kidnapping Gaara, though I just can't wrap my head around the cause of their sudden disappearance. They seemed hell-bent on capturing Shukaku's vessel." Sasuke proceeded her words carefully and secluded all information.

"But how do you know their identities?" Sasuke asked after a while.

"We followed them" Kankuro explained from behind Sasuke. "It was one hell of a fight but we managed to escape, or more Itachi said they would let us go since we weren't the ones they are after. Naruto just complied."

"We also did not fight against Naruto, and Gaara refuses to tell against whom he fought. He just told us about the Akatsuki cloak."

"Hn" So Naruto's ability in battle was questionable. Given his membership in an organization with standards as high as the Akatsuki however it was safe to assume that he was at the very least Anbu level since Akatsuki's members all were S-rank criminals and therefore exceptionally stronger than a ninja with Jounin rank. That didn't necessarily equal in Naruto being a Shinobi of his brother's rank, oh it sure as hell didn't but it still made him a bit uneasy.

"Of course Naruto didn't fight! He is the loser and nowhere near our level in a fight" Sasuke gritted his teeth. "Sakura" his voice was cold as ice, "shut up. You of all people should know that time can change a person as well as training." Or in other words 'You were worse than him, so suck it up' just not as hostile.

Before Sakura could give a retort, Temari stopped and turned to them.

"This is where we lost them. I wish you success."

And with that, the Shinobi of Sunagakure were gone and they were alone in the middle of nowhere in a mixture of forest and desert.

-.-.-.-.-

Okay guys I hoped you liked it, let me know!

Thanks for reading!

~Dark


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **It is my duty to inform you that neither Naruto nor its characters belong to me.

**Warnings: **None.

**Beta'd by: **The awesome Noleewut. Arigato!

Thanks for the reviews, guys!

-.-.-.-

"Everyone wants to reach out their hand and grab happiness, but they just end up becoming the monster that lies deep in darkness." – Unknown

-.-.-.-

Screams filled the air, full of terror and despair. Edifices built out of age-old stone laid in ruins, brackens stained with blood, sprinkled crimson against the grey texture. Crushed bodies, gore splashed everywhere, soaking the earth and mingling with the dewy smell of a just awakening day, staining the very innocence of life with its sickening taste of chopper and salt, allowing death to once again claim its hegemony over durability, the eventual triumphant of the eternal struggle.

A body, still warm, still breathing, still fighting against the grim reaper's merciless scythe, fell to the ground, dirt stained hands scraping against the shattered glass of hundreds of broken windows, adding yet another hot, amaranth and careless brushstroke to the scenario of Death and Doom before it. Unseeing, wet eyes squeezed shut in denial of the horrible truth that was life. Nothing was guaranteed, nothing could be protected forever. The chilly air that had only just begun to warm with the first rays of hope-bringing sunshine, bit in her skin almost as harshly as the splinter that flew everywhere as a another place of deceptive safety exploded, the shockwave rendering her deaf for the rest of her fading life, relieving her of the sound of crying and wailing children, screaming for mothers and fathers they would never see again, yelling in pain that would soon wane with the absolute end of Death.

The fire that spread through her home bestowed his own distinct smell of smoke and flue gas upon the last breath she drew in this life, and as she closed her eyes for the final time, she thought about her family, burning to ashes behind her.

-.-.-.-

Sasuke cursed under his breath. They were going in circles!

For hours now Kiba kept on insisting that he smelled his brother's odour without the 'hunt' actually leading anywhere. Neji and Sasuke, thinking they may have ran into the enemy's trap, had activated their respective visual powers, searching for any trace of their prey's chakra in vain until they had decided that wasting energy like that was futile and that the team would have to rely on Inuzuka's tracking abilities for the time being. That, however, didn't mean Sasuke wasn't allowed to rail at Kiba in his mind. He had led them back into the forest, right at the border of Hi no Kuni, where they were surrounded by trees, shadows and the stupid animals that just wouldn't stop making sounds that had him on the edge with the expectation of an assault.

To think, that wasn't the only thing battering Sasuke's patience. There was also the nagging feeling that something was off about the Sand Siblings. Tsunade had said there would be a three-man squad accompanying them, aiding them and chalking up forces. She had sent them here to support the Kazekage, not to do all the work for him, she had even given Sasuke instructions on how to deal with them (she had threatened to castrate him should word reach her that he'd upset their allies somehow) and to top it all, Sasuke was pissed off at himself because he'd been so engrossed in his bloodlust – and still was – that he simply couldn't have been bothered by the small inconsistencies in Temari's and Kankuro's behaviour.

All of that in mind, he'd told Sakura to keep an eye on Kiba while Neji and he observed the peaceful forest and the tracker of the team tried to find a trace of their targets.

So, once again, they all stood around the more or less useless mutt while said idiot sniffed the ground in order to 'pick up on their smell'.

Now, Sasuke was a very composed person who didn't lose his temper easily. But, you see, even the calmest lake could make waves if the wind was only strong enough. And, apparently, enduring Kiba Inuzuka and Sakura Haruno at the same time for almost an entire day without a single fucking break was a strong wind for his calm, cool lake.

"Inuzuka, move your stupid ass out of my face!"

"Move your face away from my ass, pinky!"

A vein in his forehead popped. Okay, so they were a really strong wind –

"Who would want it before them anyways?!"

"My ass is awesome unlike yours!"

Three other veins joined the first and, being the insightful person he was, Sasuke took slow, controlled breaths. A lake, he reminded himself, a calm and relaxed –

"WHAT?! TAKE THAT BACK YOU UNCIVILIZED MUTT!"

"FORGET IT!"

Scratch that. They weren't a strong wind, they were a fucking hurricane!

Neji covered his ears in wise foresight.

"Shut UP!" Sasuke yelled. His voice seemed to echo in the woods and startled birds and other forest dwellers. He didn't want to listen to this immature and unnecessary quarrelling! He wanted to find his brother and hopefully kick the dirty swine's ass! And those two wannabe-ninja ruined his ambitions. Not for the first time since they had started their search Sasuke wondered how in all hells those two had passed the Jounin exams. Their screaming warned any enemy in advance!

"This is an S-rank mission you two incapable and pathetic excuses for Shinobi! How can we ever dream of completing this mission if you two are unable to get a fucking grip and work together?!"

Sakura started to protest but Sasuke cut her off before she could even form a proper sentence. "I don't want to hear your excuses! Now keep quiet and get working!" She bit her trembling bottom lip and Sasuke prayed to all the deities he knew that she wouldn't start crying. Honestly…what had he done to deserve this?

Behind him, Neji shook his head, an amused smirk on his face. He'd known this would happen since he'd read the composition of the team. True, Sakura was an excellent medic, but otherwise she didn't have much to offer as a ninja, especially when it came to combat. Pure strength wasn't everything, you needed tactic and that was an ability Sakura undoubtedly lacked.

The leaves rustled as a chilling breeze flowed through them. The noises of scuttling little feet over the forest ground, accelerating a sudden feeling of danger. Silence lowered itself over them.

Sakura and Kiba had become quiet, their stances defensive and their faces alert.

Neji and Sasuke exchanged a look. Sasuke nodded.

Ocular powers activated, the Uchiha took a step forward, closer to the massive chakra that stood about twenty feet away from them on the branch of one the age-old trees surrounding them.

_Is he alone? _There was only one ninja in front of them, and Sasuke failed to sense another. That meant the Akatsuki member they saw was either Naruto or Itachi. Not that it mattered much. As long as they had Kiba to back them up and Sakura to patch them together, there was no way they would lose against one of them if he came on them alone. No matter how monstrous that man's chakra was, if he thought he could beat two of the top ANBU of Konoha he had another thing coming. Painfully. That thought in mind, Neji leapt up in a sudden surge of speed, a kunai firmly in hand, intent on slicing the man's throat apart. The figure didn't move.

Eyes narrowing at the lack of response from the enemy while facing his attack, Neji enforced his weapon with chakra, giving it a longer range and an even sharper edge, closing the gap between him and the opponent by aiming at the neck and striking his blade.

With a movement so fast he very nearly missed it even with the Byakugan his target jumped straight towards him, drew back his fist and punched him in the gut with the force of a wrecking ball. The only reason the Hyuuga stopped flying was because he crashed into a tree, leaving a nice, spider-web like pattern on the trunk even as he spun mid-air and caught his fall with his feet.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was dumbfounded for a moment as he watched Neji being outclassed in terms of speed. Getting a hold of himself quickly, he drew out two shuriken from his weapon's pouch and threw them, aiming at the Akatsuki member's heart. Unsurprisingly, the man was too fast to be hit. Now, Sasuke wasn't slow either, so simultaneously to letting go of the four-pronged metal stars he made the hand seals for Chidori, knowing perfectly fine that he had to stop the approaching Shinobi before he reached his goal. But before he could even take a single step in direction of the running enemy, a movement beside him caught his attention – and distracted him from his original task, allowing the other to slip past him and plant his fist straight into Sakura's face, who didn't know what hit her. To her, the attack came out of nowhere, being too fast for her eyes and therefore knocking her back without effort. If there had been a doubt about the identity of the person in the cloud-covered cloak before, it was erased as the figure stopped for only a second and focused his attention on the cursing Kiba, only now realizing that the faint trail of smell the wind earlier had brought with itself was the one of the former number one maverick ninja of the hidden leaf.

There, before him, stood Naruto Uzumaki. His shaggy blond hair longer than it had been five years ago, his face no longer the visage with the annoying grin Kiba was used to. His cheekbones were sharper, his jaw stronger and his skin had gained an even deeper tan. He was taller, his shoulders filled out the cloak in all the right places and he was obviously very strong if he had been able to send the Hyuuga prodigy flying like that by every trick in the book. But what really made Kiba's heart beat like it was trying to escape his chest and cold dread fill the pit of his stomach were his eyes. Naruto's eyes had once been an incredible deep blue, sometimes sparkling with mirth and mischief, sometimes dull and distant. But even then, they had had a glimmer in them that practically screamed of the will to live. Now, they held the colour of freshly shed blood, a bright red that seemed to glow in the penumbra of the forest. Snake-like slit pupils sucked him into a world of fear and rage, told him in one fleeting glance of the pain and anguish of the world, of all the blonde had suffered. And while Kiba was very tempted to freak out and scream at Sasuke to come and help him, he knew that if he could only hold out for some seconds, Neji would be up and taking on the jinchuuriki. Because no matter what the Inuzuka would like to believe, there was no way he could beat Naruto. He wasn't the dead-last loser of Konoha anymore. Kiba didn't know what had happened to him during his absence, nor had he cared before, however now he would have to find out.

Suddenly, Kiba grinned. What was he thinking? This was Naruto Uzumaki, the village outcast. The boy he himself had often beaten bloody, the boy he himself had derided because he didn't have parents and money. Because, let's be honest, his parents had - according to the citizen's beliefs – not wanted a failure as a son and therefore left him. Besides, the fact that he'd managed to take Neji by surprise had most likely been pure luck – there was no way the loser of the village had become so strong. Everyone was better than the dead-last, it simply was the way of the world, dammit!

So, laughing scornfully in his head, Kiba approached his former colleague with a kunai and the memory of Naruto lying bleeding in the dirt at his feet, crying silently.

That certainly didn't concern Sasuke anymore. From behind a tree, the other part of the criminal duo had stepped, crimson eyes looking over the scene before him impassively. In the blink of an eye, a host of nightmarish memories came crushing over him, assaulting him with fear, hatred and a blind anger that left him furious, making all thoughts of protecting his comrades flying out of the window as he took in the appearance of his brother that hadn't changed an iota over the past ten years in which Sasuke hadn't seen him. His eyes still held that impassive, almost bored look while at the same time they seemed to glint with a predatory streak that was peculiar to all of the Uchiha…all of them being Sasuke and Itachi. The Chidori still waiting to be used, crackling with energy, he moved forward with the speed he had trained for years. Every day, he had worked himself to a point of exhaustion at which he had almost regularly passed out, pushing his mind and body to their limits and beyond, the reminiscence of his older sibling slaughtering their brethren playing before his inner eye. In order to gain enough strength to kill his brother he had trained with Kakashi to master his control over the Sharingan, he had bribed Anko into letting him sign the contract with the Snakes of Ryuuchi Cave, learned Taijustu from Guy, had mantled down the whole Uchiha compound in search for all and any scrolls that contained the most secret jutsu of their clan including the techniques of their Kekkei Genkai that not even Kakashi was capable of. He had developed skills with ninja wire, had trained Bukijutsu (1) with TenTen and had even gone to Shizune to learn everything knowledgeable about all types of poison.

For this moment, this battle, this confrontation, he had trained his ass off. And, so god and hell help him, he would get rid of his bastard of a brother for good.

-.-.-.-.-

And we end with a nice cliffhanger!

Ninja Tool Techniques, you know throwing kunai and shuriken and stuff.

Anticipate fighting in the next chapter though. The waiting will be worth it, promise!

Thanks for reading and leave a review!

~Dark


End file.
